Omega-3 (n-3) highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) have been recognized as important dietary compounds for infant and maternal nutrients, maintaining normal cardiovascular and immune system health, and for retarding the growth of tumor cells. The beneficial effects of these fatty acids can be obtained by eating fish several times a week or by daily intake of concentrated fish oil, which is available as a dietary source of omega-3 HUFAs.
There is a lot of interest in enriching the meat of poultry and swine with omega-3 HUFAs to provide consumers with additional dietary options for obtaining these nutritionally important fatty acids. It is well known that the omega-3 HUFA content of poultry and swine meat can be increased by including a source of these fatty acids in the feed of poultry and swine. Currently available sources of omega-3 HUFA for use in feed include fish oil and fish meal algae, flaxseed, rapeseed, soybeans, avocado meal, linseed oil and canola oil. Because these fatty acids are unstable and their oxidation products can lead to the development of off-flavor and odors in meat, they need to be added to the feed at low concentrations and in a stable form. Fish oil is notoriously unstable due to oxidation and recommendations exist regarding limiting its use in broiler rations to prevent development of off-flavor/odors. One could use highly refined/deodorized fish oils and/or microencapsulate them but both processes significantly increase the cost of the fish oil for use in feed and the deodorized oils are still readily susceptible to oxidation unless microencapsulated. Micro-algae provide a source of stable, naturally encapsulated omega-3 HUFAs, but they are relatively expensive to grow in controlled conditions such as fermentors. Better quality, and better tasting omega-3 HUFA enriched meat could be produced if ways could be developed to effectively and economically use these more expensive sources of omega-3 HUFAs in the feed of poultry and swine. One of the most important improvements that could be made in this omega-3 HUFA enrichment process would be to find a way to significantly increase the incorporation efficiency of the omega-3 HUFAs in the feed into the resulting meat.
This would solve two key problems currently limiting the commercial production of omega-3 HUFA enriched meat: (1) high cost of production; and (2) taste and odor problems in the resulting meat. Less of the high quality omega-3 HUFA feed sources would be required to reach a target enrichment level thus significantly reducing the cost of the meats. Additionally, higher, more nutritionally beneficial concentration of omega-3 HUFAs could be achieved in meat if so desired without organoleptic compromise. Conversely, lower amounts of the lower quality, cheaper sources of omega-3 HUFAs (e.g. raw fish oil) could be used to achieve significant, but lower, enrichment levels without developing organoleptic problems in the meat.